The IMRG analysis of sales channels found that with online shopping 66% of visits to retail websites came via mobile devices in the fourth quarter 2015, up from 63% in the previous quarter, yes 63%!
In Criteo’s ‘State of mobile commerce report Q1 2015’ the UK was in the top three countries with strong mCommerce. They also reported that Fashion & Luxury retailers had the highest share of mobile transactions. The majority of the growth is driven by smartphone sales globally, with the iPhone driving much of this growth. The Smartphone conversion funnel is just slightly weaker than desktop conversion by just a few percent, which presents a real opportunity for retailers.
Last April Somo reported that 75% of luxury consumers research online before purchasing, and 73% of those do this on mobile. They also analysed the mobile capabilities of the top 50 high street retailers here are just a few of the things they found:
20% don’t have a transactional mobile site.
30% don’t have an iOS app.
44% do not have a tablet optimised site.
46% don’t support responsive web design.
It’s good to see the likes of Burberry announcing it is to abandon the traditional seasonal approach to its catwalk collections. From September, all of the clothes featured in Burberry’s runway shows will be available to buy immediately, instore and online. Not only is this more customer centric, from the perspective that customers are looking for access to the collections as soon possible, but you have the potential of immediate sales, just imagine how those smartphones will be used for purchases at shows an in stores during the shows. Tom Ford sums up the current model well “We spend an enormous amount of money and energy to stage an event that creates excitement too far in advance of when the collection is available to the consumer.” This a significant shift from the conventional model in which clothes appear on catwalks four months before they go on sale. Sarah Mower, Vogue’s chief critic and the British Fashion Council’s ambassador for emerging talent said “Currently there’s instant access to shows but constant deferral. If you can’t buy it immediately, you forget about it.”
It’s not unlike mobile customer experience, get it wrong and the customer is off elsewhere fairly rapidly.
Consumers are getting their smartphones out to buy more readily not just to comment and take pictures…make sure your site is optimised to accommodate them.
